Actions

Rattlesnake bites groom during photo shoot

Groom still makes it to reception

Posted: 1:12 PM, Jun 21, 2016

Updated:2016-06-22 15:22:56Z

By:
Associated Press

Not the wedding day a Colorado couple planned.

While taking their dream photos, near Horsetooth Reservoir, nature got way too close. Just minutes after they tied the knot, Johnny and Laura Benson were taking wedding photos when a rattlesnake bit Johnny on the leg.

"It happened right up over there,” said the wedding photographer, Maddie Mae, pointing out where the attack happened. “The rattlesnake jumped out and bit the groom. I was five feet behind them."

When they tried to flag down a nearby park ranger, the ranger just waved back at first.

“Just assuming the bride and groom were waving - he yells, ‘Congratulations,’” said Mae.

The ranger soon got the message - this was serious.

“He came over and helped and called the paramedics," said Mae.

The bride, Laura, quickly phoned family and friends to break the news. As paramedics whisked the groom off to the ER, Mae figured she might as well keep shooting.

“I really believe that every wedding is an adventure," she said. “This was theres.”

The bride and groom got good news from doctors at the ER - no swelling, no symptoms and no venom injected. And just an hour late, the bride and groom arrive for their night.

"It was the loudest, most emotional, most grand entrance I've ever seen,” said Mae. “They got the biggest hugs."